Chaos and Laughter
by AnonymousPinkie
Summary: Genre: Comedy, Adventure, Shipping, Tragedy Pairings: Discord/Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash/Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash/Applejack, Fluttershy/Big Macintosh, Celestia/Twilight Sparkle, Spike/Rarity Pinkie Pie has a unbearable weight on her shoulders. The weight of guilt. How will she cope without her one true love, but more importantly, how will she cope when he comes back?
1. Just a statue

Title: Chaos and Laughter

Main Pairing: Discord/Pinkie Pie

Other Pairings: Pinkie/Rainbow Dash, Applejack/Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy/Big Macintosh, Spike/Rarity, Celestia/Twilight Sparkle

It was a stormy day. Droplets of stinging cold water dropped from the lightning streaked sky. One pony dared to brave these conditions, but then again, she wasn't the most sensible of ponies. The soft sounds of her hooves trotting on a worn stone echoed in the dark gloom. Her saddlebags bumped uncomfortably on her back, filled with a strange assortment of items. A stick of cotton candy, wrapped in a plastic covering, a small carton of chocolate milk, a bouquet of roses, and a card hidden in a bright pink envelope.

She sighed, having reached her destination. She lifted the saddlebags from her aching back, and placed them on the damp ground. She unhooked the clasp, shaped like a trio of balloons. As you may have already guessed, the pony was Pinkie Pie, the most friendly pony in Equestria and lover of parties. Except she wasn't feeling like holding a big celebration right now. She lay the strange items in front of a towering, asymmetrical sculpture. A faded brass plaque screwed to a marble pedestal below it read:

_Discord__, __Former__Ruler__of__Equestria__, __Defeated__by__our__beloved__princesses__and__the__Elements__of__Harmony__._

Newer words enscribed on the brass added:

_Defeated__a__second__time__by__Twilight__Sparkle__, __Applejack__, __Rarity__, __Fluttershy__, __Rainbow__Dash__and__Pinkie__Pie__, __the__spirits__of__the__Elements__. _

_FRAGILE__! __DO__NOT__TOUCH__!_

Pinkie longed to rub her name out and replace it by some other pony's name. She longed to throw away her Element; Give it to somepony else. Anything would be better than to live with the guilt that she had helped murder her one true love.

She touched the weathered, mossy, cold stone, as if ignoring the plaque's warning would help her forget what the plaque's real meaning said. A frozen look of terror was etched upon the draconequus's face, and chaos seemed to radiate from the very core of the statue.

But in the end, that was all it was. A statue.

The rain had become much more dubious, and soon Pinkie's straight hair clung to her face. Tears brimmed in the young lover's eyes, blurring her sight. Pinke put her sopping saddlebags back on her back, and began to walk back to the entrance of the Canterlot Sculpture Garden. Before she left, she turned back to the statue. "Goodbye, Discord, and happy Valentine's Day." She then fled the Garden, her tears creating puddles of their own.

Somewhere in the bushes, a trio of young ponies yelled "CUTIE MARK CRUSADER MATCH-MAKERS!"


	2. Apple Chocolates

Rainbow Dash blew a lock of straight hair out of her face. A storm raged outside the cosy walls of Sugarcube corner, standing like a beacon in the night. Rainbow was BORED. Pinkie Pie was supposed to be here HOURS ago, and Rainbow's chocolates were melting. She lazily watched the other ponies in the homely bakery.

There was Derpy, wall-eyed as usual, clutching a bag of muffins in her mouth as she sat down in one of the tables, with her daughter Dinky.

Twilight was there, reading the newspaper, a cup of homemade coffee by levitating beside her.

Rainbow quickly identified Spike, flirting to an uncomfortable looking Rarity, a croissant floating beside her.

And then, Rainbow Dash spotted, HER. Applejack was talking to the Cakes, a wagon full of sweet treats attached to her midsection. Her flowing blonde mane was hidden by her cute little hat, and her beautiful face was smiling, making it look even more gorgeous, if that was even possible. Her freckles stood out of her light orange complexion, freckles that Rainbow could stare at for fore-

No. Rainbow Dash slammed her head on the table repeatedly, trying to shake those thoughts out of her head. "Bad Dashie! Bad Dashie!" she muttered to herself.

"You okay, sugarcube?" a familiar accented voice asked.

Rainbow lifted her head and stared into Applejack's big green eyes.

Then she realised everypony in Sugarcube corner was staring at her, even Derpy had straightened her vision for a brief moment to look at Rainbow Dash. Rainbow blushed a bit before replying.

"Yeah, of course, AJ! I was just... er... making sure my head is hard enough for me to break through a... er... tower of stone in my next stunt!"

Applejack looked suspiciously at her for a moment, then shrugged. "Whatever you say, sugarcube." she hooked her cart back on and trotted out the door. Dash was about to leave to, when suddenly a sopping wet Pinkie Pie bounced through it, trailing a stream of water behind her.

"Hi Dashie!" she called, hugging her girlfriend.

"Oh! Hi Pinkie!" Dash said, water from the wet Pinkie soaking her fur. "You're a bit late. I was just about to leave."

Pinkie separated herself from Dash. "Whoopsie! I guess I was just being a silly little Pinkie Pie again!" She spotted the chocolates behind Dash's back. "OOOOOHISTHATCHOCOLATETHANKYO UDASHIESOOOOOMUCHYOUKNOWHOWM UCHILOVECHOCOLATE!" Pinkie said, hugging Dash once more before taking the chocolates and stuffing five of them in her mouth at once. "Itsht shoooo deshishtioush!"

Pinkie took the remaining chocolates and offered a few to Dash.

As they ate the sweet treat, the same thought flashed through their minds:

_Chocolate is good._

Chocolate helps me ignore the pain.


	3. And so they fight

"Okay, Crusaders!" Sweetie Belle's squeaky voice announced, "We have two options here! One is too free Discord, and get Miss Pinkie her true love back, or option number two, we get Miss Pinkie a new coltfriend!"

"I opt for option one." Scootaloo said, a bored expression etched on her face. "Anything would be better than having to find another single colt. Remember the Hearts and Hooves day incident? And besides, I kinda liked those chocolate milk clouds."

"Well Ah opt for option one. Mah sister was in big trouble the last time Discord was out. And we nearly lost all ah crops because of him." Applebloom added, frowning at Scootaloo.

"I personally agree with Applebloom, Rarity almost squashed me with that dumb rock she brought in." Sweetie stated.

"Humph. Well I guess we could try Big Macintosh again." Scootaloo said.

"Ah'm not letting you guys use mah big brother again, remember last time? And besides, he's in love with Miss Fluttershy. You'd know that if we stopped crusading for one minute and got to know each other more."

"But talking is waaaaaaay to boring! We need to be doing action-y stuff!" Scootaloo declared.

"That's not even a word!" Sweetie cut in.

"What are you, a dictionary?"

"No, I'm just well educated!"

"Are you saying I'm stupid?!"

"Girls-" Applebloom tried to say, but was cut off.

"No, I'm just better at grammar than you!"

"You sound like Miss Rarity!"

"And what's so bad about my sister?!"

"Nothing, if you don't couldn't her picky neat girlyness!"

"Rarity is WAY better than that selfish, brute of a pony Rainbowda-"

"GIRLS!" Applebloom yelled. "CAN WE ALL JUST CALM DOWN!"

"LOOK WHO'S TALKING, MISS SHOUTY-PANTS!" Scootaloo said, turning to Applebloom.

And as they argued and argued, little did they know that right behind them, a certain statue was begging to crack.


	4. Lovely Sunsets

Derpy gazed up at the beautiful sunset, her eyes focused for a split second.

"Isn't it beautiful?" The Doctor whispered quietly to her, and Derpy shifted her gaze to meet his eyes. His beautiful, blue eyes. She nodded in a silent reply, and moved closer to her secret crush.

"Almost as beautiful as you." Derpy muttered under her breath. The Doctor suddenly turned to her. "What did you say?" Derpy felt a small blush creep up her cheeks, she had forgotten the Doctor had amazing hearing. "Nothing." She said, looking away.

An awkward silence fell over the pair, until Derpy couldn't stand it any longer and looked at the Doctor again. She was surprised to see him blushing a deep scarlet. "Ditzy, their's something I have to tell you." Derpy's heart seemed to stop. _Was he confessing his feelings to me? _She thought hopefully, and then realized that the Doctor had moved closer. If she wanted to she could have kissed him without barely leaning in.

"I-I love y-" His voice was cut of by the chorus of screams coming from a incoming mob of fleeing ponies. "What the?" He said, looking away from Derpy at the rapidly approaching crowd.

"Umm... Doctor? We should run!"

"Agreed. RUUUUUUUUUNNN!" The Doctor yelled, galloping away from the mob, Derpy by his side.

"What in Equestria is happening?!" Twilight remarked, watching the town mail-mare and Time Turner run away from a huge mob. One of the ponies in the mob had slowed temporarily, panting and out of breath. Twilight recognized her as Lily Valley, the over-dramatic florist. It looked like she had been running for hours. Twilight galloped towards her .

"What in Celestia's name happened?!' Twilight asked.

"The horror! The horror!" Lily exclaimed staring horror-struck into Twilight's eyes. "DISCORD IS BACK!"


	5. Twisted Oaks

Pinkie and Rainbow Dash sat upon an ancient oak tree on the outskirts of Ponyville. "Best Hearts and Hooves day EVER, eh Pinkie?" Dash lied, one arm around her "girlfriend".

"Everything's better with you, Dashie!" the bubbly pink pony replied. "You got any of those chocolates left?"

"You bet, Pinks! I think I left some on that cloud over there. Just let me get them!"

Rainbow Dash flew up to the cloud, sighing. Keeping up this masquerade was hard, but she didn't want to break her best friend's heart. As she pondered this, she saw two figures being chased by a mob. "Huh?" she said, flying closer to the crowd to get a better view.

"WE'RE ALL GONNA DDDDDDDDDDDIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" a light green pony screamed.

"Never fear, your friendly neighborhood Rainbow Dash is- humph!" Rainbow Dash called, as one of the chased figures took to the air and slammed into her.

"Sorry Rainbow Dash!" The gray mare replied, picking herself off the winded pegasus, and flying off again.

Rainbow Dash stood up and started flying back towards the tree that Pinkie was in.

"Pinkie, you will never believe what just happened! There's a mob and- Pinkie?"

The tree was empty.


	6. Dashing Rainbows and Golden Apples

"PINKIE PIE!" Rainbow Dash yelled into the air, flying frantically around the tree in search of the bubbly pink pony. She may not have any romantic feelings for Pinkie but that didn't mean that she was just going to let her best friend be taken away. After her search revealed nothing except one of Pinkie's hidden balls, she dashed into the chaotic streets of Ponyville in search of her.

Hours passed, and to no avail. Night began to fall on the town as Rainbow Dash shouted Pinkie's name once more into the air, then collapsed, sobbing. What had happened? Had Pinkie been abducted? Killed? Endless questions clouded Rainbow's mind as she passed out on the streets. Although she would deny it later, spending the whole day flying had proven too unbearable, even for Dash.

Applejack packed up her stall. No business, as usual. Those dang Golden Apple saleponies had once again stolen all of Sweet Apple Acres' customers with their charming words and their swift deals. They had come from Appleloosa, claiming to have the best apples in Equestria. Applejack highly doubted that, but they were cheaper that Sweet Apple Acres' stock. Slowly but surely, ponies started preferring to buy from them.

She sighed. The taxes for her farm were already overdue, and with Ma and Pa no longer here to create amazing business stunts for them, Applejack didn't know what to do. The only food they could afford was their own apples and soon they might be gone too. They could always go and ask for charity, but Applejack's stubborn pride prevented her from doing so.

As she trotted down the dirt roads of Ponyville, she heard a small noise, like a foal crying, getting softer by the second, as if whatever was making the noise was giving up hope. Curiosity tugging at her brain, she trotted around the corner to investigate.

What she saw was not a foal. It was her best friend, Rainbow Dash. She was about to rush up to her and ask what was wrong, when she realized that Dash was asleep. She had an old and worn cloth placed over her, as if somepony had seen her but not wanted to wake the sleeping pony. It was lucky that they had done that too, because the night was freezing. If the cloth had not been providing warmth for Dash she would have probably caught hypothermia.

Still, Applejack could not bear to see the usually brave and bold Rainbow Dash laying there, crying in her sleep. As gentle as she could, Applejack lifted Rainbow onto her apple cart, and trotted back home, sleeping Dash in tow.


	7. A prison fit for a queen

Pinkie Pie awoke. She looked bleary-eyed around her "prison". She was in some sort of spherical ball, the walls light blue but transparent enough for her to see outside. Not that there was much to see anyway. The outside world was dark, jagged rocks jutting from the surface of the grey ground, like shark's teeth, although the landscape seemed familiar. Faint music played from somewhere far away, a chaotic and merry tune, but also had a key of sadness about it. She reached up against the confining walls of her prison to find them rubbery and thin, like the skin of a... BALLOON! Pinkie suddenly realised that she was standing in a balloon reminiscent of her cutie mark. She swivelled her head around quickly to find that her prison was not the only one. A giant red apple stood near a pink butterfly contraption, who was brushing against a giant crystal. Squinting, she saw in the distance a hollowed-out cloud shooting rainbow bursts at random times. A fizzling sound emitted near her, and she turned around to face the source of the noise, a giant star emitting sparkles, at the top of a giant throne.

"Do you like what I've done with the place?" a charming yet malicious voice spoke in her ear. With a jolt Pinkie remembered why the landscape had seemed so familiar. She was in fact floating above the rock farm she grew up on as a child.

"It could do with some cotton candy clouds." Pinkie said, trying to sound like her usual self despite trembling with fear. Discord had changed, there was no doubt of that. His voice was crueller sounding and not as playful as he had been before, and reminding Pinkie of the past she so desperately wanted to forget was not the sort of way she had imagined Discord would greet her with.

She still didn't turn to face him as Discord whispered into her ear again, obviously noticing her fear. "What's wrong Pinkie Pie? I thought you liked my chaos? Too bad your little friends aren't here to save you."

"They will come! I know it!" Pinkie whispered, this time not even trying to conceal her fear.

"Oh yes, they will," he replied, gesturing to the frozen bodies of Celestia and Luna. "And then I will have myself a few more statues."

The next day...

"Achoo!" Scootaloo sneezed into a tissue Miss Cheerilee had given her. She still wasn't talking to Applebloom or Sweetie Belle, not after yesterday's argument. For the past week the CMC's main cutie mark activities seemed to be fighting and betrayal. Applebloom sat next to her old friend Twist, Sweetie Belle chatted to Dinky Doo, and that left Scootaloo all alone. Not that she wasn't used to it.

"Maybe you need to go see Ms. Band Aid, the school nurse?" Cheerilee kindly said, interupting Scootaloo's train of thought.

"Oh, um, yes Miss Cheerilee!" Scootaloo replied, snatching her tissues of the desk and walking out of the class. Ms. Band Aid's room was only a short walk from the class room. She shivered, even though the day was warm. She was also very tired. Granted sleeping outside with no blanket was never very comfortable, but still she had grown used to it and was surprised that she was feeling this drowsy. She knocked slowly on the nurse's door, and a light yellow unicorn stuck her head out.

"Oh! Hi Scootaloo, are you feeling okay?" She asked, opening the door for Scoots to walk through. She then levitated a thermometer and stuck it in Scootaloo's mouth, and after checking it she fetched her a blanket and wrapped it around the cold filly's body. "Hmmm... 33 degrees Celsius..." She muttered to herself, squinting at the thermometer.

"What does that mean?" Scootaloo asked, blowing her nose.

"Well, for a start, you have a cold. Hold this." Miss Band Aid said, handing Scootaloo the thermometer.

"And?"

"You've got hypothermia."


	8. Friendship Reports

**FRIENDSHIP REPORTS**

~_Twilight Sparkle_

Twilight sighed, gazing absentmindedly at the unfinished letter she was writing to her mentor and protector, Princess Celestia. After resolving the town's panic by assuring them that Discord's statue was still intact, she was going to write a friendship report about this day, yet she just couldn't find the words to explain her lesson.

"Hey Twi, can we go to Applebloom's now?" Spike said, interrupting Twilight's train of thought. After Rarity had politely informed Spike about her betrothal to Fancy Pants, he had started to show an interest in Applejack's younger sister. Twilight was just glad that he wasn't too heartbroken by Rarity's rejection.

"In a little bit, Spike." Twilight replied, picking up her quill and focusing on the letter once more. She had taken on the responsibility of writing her own letters to the Princess instead of having to paraphrase her complicated lessons so Spike would understand. "Okay... Dear Princess Celestia," she began, tasting her teacher's name on her tongue. For some reason this sent shivers down Twilight's spine and made her heart beat loudly. "Today I learned... Um... To consider all the evidence before making an assumption... No, I learnt that already. Um... I learned that you shouldn't panic about something without reason? Nope, already learned that." Twilight shivered again when she remembered her breakdown. "Um... You should never listen to a drunk Berry Punch? I doubt that would sound good in a friendship report of all things... Aha! You should never spread gossip about something that could cause problems! No, already learned that as well. What lesson HAVEN'T I learned?!"

"I thought the Berry Punch one was pretty good." Spike commented, chowing down on a bowl of bubblegum ice cream. Twilight had no idea where it came from, as she didn't keep any ice cream in her freezer. He probably got it from Pinkie Pie. Wait- where was Pinkie? Twilight hadn't seen her in days!

"Spike, have you seen Pinkie around lately?" Twilight asked, anxiety clearing her voice. She levitated the half finished letter into the trash. It was a lost cause anyway. Spike thought for a moment, before replying.

"Actually, when you mention it, I haven't seen her in ages. Wonder where she is? Probably trying to clone herself again. When you find her, you should thank her for this ice cream. It's delicious!" Spike licked the remaining ice cream out of the tub and burped.

"Spike, concentrate! Pinkie Pie has gone missing and all you care about is your... Ice cream. Wait a second. If you haven't seen Pinkie, then how did she give you this ice cream?"

"I dunno, I just found it outside with one of her patented Pinkie-Invitation-Streamer-Thingies taped to it. I didn't read it, it probably said some thing like," Spike took a deep breath and then put on a terrible Pinkie Pie impersonation, "HiyaTwilightIhopeyouenjoytheicecreamitsanewflavou rcalledbubbleblastgummyyumandIneedsomeonetotasteit and- Twilight?"

While Spike had been caught up in his Pinkie-speech, Twilight had raced outside and searched the ground for the invitation. She found it and read it, every word sending a jolt of fear into her heart.

"Dear Twilight Sparkle," it read, in spiky handwriting that was most definitely NOT Pinkie's, "Pinkie is not the last. Enjoy your ice cream, on me.

Sincerely,

An old friend."

Twilight galloped back inside the library, calling Spike's name frantically. "I'm right here, okay!" He replied, before collapsing on the ground.


	9. Tying up loose ends

TYING UP LOOSE ENDS

~_Scootaloo_

"I'm going to have to call your parents." Miss Band Aid said, picking up her telephone.

"NO!" Scootaloo shouted, diving off the chair and using her wings to propel herself across the room towards the yellow unicorn. She swiftly dodged the filly and stared suspiciosly at Scootaloo.

"Why ever not, Scootaloo?" She asked, helping the said filly up. Scootaloo sneezed.

"Um... My parents are... Holidaying! Yeah, they're in Canterlot for the term!" She replied, sweat droplets showing on her brow.

"And they left you here all alone?"

"Umm..." Applebloom had always said she was an even lousier liar than her sister. Wait, that's it! "I'm staying with Applejack!"

Band Aid squinted at Scootaloo, before closing her eyes and smiling, all suspicion wiped from her face. "Okay Scootaloo! You can tell me Applejack's number and I'll call her instead!"

Scootaloo breathed a sigh of relief, before reciting Applejack's number with ease, having memorised it after countless playtimes at the farm. She just hoped that AJ would play along with her bluff, and being the helpful pony she was, Scootaloo was almost sure she would.

~_Applejack_

BRING! BRING!

"What in tarnation?!" Applejack said, dropping her unpaid bills on the table.

BRING! BRING!

There it was again. She trotted into her living room to find her telephone ringing like there was no tomorrow. She picked the receiver up and held it too her ear.

"Hello, you've reached Sweet Apple Ares, how may I help you?" she said, letting a small bit of hope leak into her voice. Maybe it was a customer! _Or, more likely,_ she thought, _It's another bill. _

What it really was shocked her to no end.

"Hello, I'm Ms. Band Aid, the school nurse. Scootaloo has fallen ill, Hypothermia, to be exact." a voice at the end of the line spoke.

"What?"

"I know it must come as quite a shock to you, being her guardian at this point in time. It's only a mild case, but she still needs to go to the hospital. Can you pick her up?"

"Ah, um, sure." Applejack answered, her confusion and suspicion growing.

"Excellent! Goodbye, Applejack! Oh, and I must congratulate you on your apples! They are de-licios! Way better than that disgusting Golden Apple Brand stuff. Yuck. See ya later!" Band Aid hung up, and Applejack's first thought was:

_She sounds just like Pinkie Pie._

_~Twilight Sparkle_

"POISONED?!" Twilight shrieked, leaning over the counter and facing the nurse who had given her the news. The white earth pony shrunk back.

"Um, yes." She squeaked out, staring at Twilight's enraged face.

"AND YOU CAN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT?!"

"I'm so sorry!" The pony whispered, "We don't know that much about dragons yet and-"

"OH, YOU'LL BE SORRY ALRIGHT ONCE I GET MY HOOVES ON-"

"Darling, please, control yourself! I'm angry too, furious even, but frightening- um, what was your name?" Rarity said, levitating Twilight away from her cowering victim.

"Nurse Angelheart." The said pony squealed out.

"As I was saying, frightening Nurse Angelheart here is _not _the way we should conduct ourselves in this predicament! I say we should do what you do best and, quote on quote, "hit the books" if we are ever going to find a cure!"

"I suppose you're right." Twilight said, calming down but still shooting daggers at the nurse, as she shrunk back further.

The two unicorns trotted out, leaving behind the nurse, who promptly fainted.

As they walked, Twilight mused about the nurse, one thing tugging at her mind.

_She behaved just like Fluttershy..._

~_Rainbow Dash_

"Darling, are you okay?" an elegant voice asked.

"Leave me alone, Rarity." Rainbow replied, turning over, before she heard something odd.

"Who's Rarity?"

She opened her eyes to see a light orange pegasus with a fancy light pink mane gazing at her oddly. A name tag pinned to her hospital uniform read Nurse Gemheart, and a light blue cross was embellished on her flank.

Rainbow Dash snapped awake and tried to fly, only to find her wings in bandages.

"You need to rest." The nurse said, pushing Rainbow gently back down into her bed. A light pink mare joined her, the name tag pinned on her chest proclaiming Nurse Sparkheart.

"Your wings are heavily exhausted, and you need to rest for at least a week. No flying." The new nurse said matter-of-factly, a clipboard tucked under one of her wings.

Rainbow groaned, remembering the last time she was grounded in the hospital. At least the nurses seemed nice enough, even though they kind of reminded Rainbow of somepony else... She waved the thought away, and groaned once more as the nurses left.

This was going to be a long week.


	10. Carrot Cake and Chocolate Milk

**CARROT CAKE AND CHOCOLATE MILK**

~_Pinkie Pie_

Pinkie squinted at her captor. Something didn't seem right. Discord had been acting even stranger than normal. His bubbly demeanor had been replaced by malice and hatred. The boring landscape stayed the same day after day, with not a cotton candy cloud in sight. Her stomach rumbled, at the thought of the chaotic delicacy. She had only eaten bread and water in the past few days, and she yearned for a more tasty treat.

As if her thoughts had been heard, a small pink cloud suddenly appeared in her cell. Small droplets of a brown liquid started to fall, staining her pink coat. She lifted her head towards this gift and opened her mouth wide, swallowing a mouthful of the liquid, before promptly spitting it out. Muddy water! She jumped high and swatted at the cloud with her hoof, to find it not responding to her touch. A normal cloud then.

A cruel chuckle came from the throne Discord lounged upon, and she looked up at him, tears brimming in her eyes. Her hair, despite staying in its unruly form in the past few days, hung limp by her sides. Discord noticed this change and grinned at her, before laughing once more.

That was when Pinkie noticed the change.

Discord was grey.

~_Fluttershy_

"Oh,um, excuse me." Fluttershy said, moving past a group of chatting mares. She normally despised having to enter the crowded marketplace, lest she step on somepony's hooves, but Angel had been very clear that he wanted a Carrot Cake, and he wanted it now.

She picked up her pace as Sugarcube Corner came into view. The sooner she bought the cake, the sooner she could get back home. The bell tinkled softly as she entered the sweet shop, and she immediately calmed down. Mr and Mrs Cake were always considerate of her, and Pinkie Pie was sure to blast a smile on her face. Sometimes literally.

She was about to walk to the counter and place her order when she saw the place was deserted. She was about to leave when she heard a small sob. It was coming from the residential area of the store, the nursery to be exact. Curiosity gripping the normally not nosy mare, she walked past the employees only sign and up the stairs.

She was surprised at what she saw. The babies where fine, asleep in their cradles, but the crying was coming from Mrs. Cake, while Mr. Cake was trying to comfort her. Mr. Cake looked up at her and gave a sad smile, as did Cup Cake, with difficulty.

"Oh, I should leave," Fluttershy said softly, beginning to turn around.

"No, its alright Fluttershy, you can stay. You're one of Pinkie's friends, is that right?" Mr Cake said, "Have you seen her around?"

"Oh, um, not since Wednesday. Why? Is she lost?"

"We haven't seen her since she left with Rainbow Dash on Hearts and Hooves day. We thought she was staying with one of her friends, but everypony we've asked has declined seeing Pinkie recently." Mrs. Cake explained. Tears brimmed in her eyes again, but she blinked them away.

"Oh no! I'll go and ask Rarity if she knows where she is! I was going to see her today for our weekly spa date today, so I'll ask her then!" Fearful thoughts clouded the yellow pony's mind about where Pinkie was.

"Oh, thank you Fluttershy." Mrs Cake said gratefully, "Pinkie is like a daughter to us. Please, if you find out anything, could you contact us?"

"Oh, sure Mrs. Cake. I have to go now, I have to find a carrot cake for Angel. I was going to ask you but seeing how you're feeling..."

"Nonsense!" Mr. Cake said, straitening up, "We'll make it for you. Honey, start up the oven. We can't keep moping over something like this, without even any proof that Pinkie is even in any trouble." The two bakers hurried downstairs. Fluttershy could hear the bustle of the kitchen. She smiled.


End file.
